This movie spoke to me. The main character decides to take up running as a way to get her life together. The first day she decides to go for a run she looks through her closet to find clothes to put in. I swear fore God this was me when I showed up in 2008 at the 1st group with NCRC Women's beginner running program. I had on cotton shorts and a cotton shirt. I was so unaware of what the proper running attire consisted of. As my former Galloway mentor and fellow HBCU lover Dr. Christy Walker told me "cotton is rotten." If you don't know then you don't know. Brittany puts on cotton sweatpants a sports bra on top of a regular bra and a pair of Converse sneakers. I kept thinking while watching I know what that's like trying to get into some form of physical activity and not even having anything to wear. She decides to start off by running for 1 NEW YORK block, let just call that about 1/4 of a mile. She makes it. Her neighbor invites her to join a local running group. When she shows up to the group I had a flashback of the information session for the NCRC WBRG. I remember being in that room at Glen Eden community center and looking around and wondering what had I gotten myself into. When she arrives at the group run the leader announces they are going to go for a 2-mile run. OMG!!! My 1st group run was about 1.25 mile around Shelley Lake. I thought I was going to go home to glory. I was the turtle of the group as I have never run in my life. One of the volunteers Jean Hagen-Johnson was with me. We started off with 1:1 interval. Then we slowed down to 2:1 interval. As we came around the lake and there was a slight incline which I thought was going to take me home to glory we just started walking. I remember that run like it was yesterday and it really was 11 years ago. I made it through it and my entire body hurt for a week. Brittany makes it through the 2 miles. She meets a fellow runner and they decide to keep up with the running and do a 5K. She gets serious with her running and nutrition. She starts to lose weight and as anyone who has ever been on a weight loss journey knows this is a BIG win. Her roommate is her best friend and she shares her news with her and she really just shrugs it off. She even tells her that she is training for a race. Her friend jokes if she's doing a marathon and she tells her a 5K, the friend's boyfriend is even a bigger ASS and says "it's just 3.1 miles" OH MY GEE I do believe I might have hollered at the movie screen. That is the worst thing someone can say to you. It's just 3.1 miles. Yes, it is. You are moving your body to complete it. His snarky comment is how some folks really are. Trust me I have met them at races. I shall say a little prayer for them later. In my southern petty mode "Bless their heart"
Brittany and her new running buddy whose name I have completely forgotten and I could totally look up on IMDB but I don't feel like it decides to do the 5K together. There is a scene where a group of kids passes them and they think they are going backward instead of forwards. This movie is funny.
They both finish the 5K. Her running buddy family is there to see him cross the finish line. She looks around and there is no one there for here. Oh, how I could relate to that. It was YEARS before any family member saw me at a race. It was 2016 when my mom and I traveled to VA Beach for Shamrock that she saw me finish a race. The best part was she did the race with me. If you want more about that fun-filled adventure head on over to Amazon and pick up a copy of my 1st book, Power of the Turtle: Tales of Being Dead Last. I'm told it's a pretty good book.
After doing the 5K she continues to keep running with her neighbor and old boy, that's what we shall call her male running partner. After seeing a commercial for the NYC Marathon she mentions to them that they should do it the following year. They all decide to train for a year to do the marathon.
Due to an injury, she gets sidelined from doing the race the next year. After her recovery from her injury, she decides to get back on the horse and train for it the following year. I watched an interview the actress did about the movie, she actually ran parts of the NYC marathon for the movie. There is real footage of the race in the movie. This is the first time this has happened. The thing that stood out most to me during the marathon race scenes was her running buddy was there with his family to cheer her on, her neighbor was there cheering her on and her "bae" was there near the finish line cheering her on. I don't think people realize what a difference it makes to have folks cheering you on when you are there literally fighting for your life trying to finish a race.
The movie is based on a true story. In the end, they showed photos of the real Brittany. I called the tall dude after the movie and told him it has motivated me to do a marathon. Of course, this rascal is all excited like it's about to happen tomorrow. I told him to let's pencil it in for 2020.
Thank you Material Pictures and the real Brittany because this turtle is going to throw her hat in the ring at a full marathon in 2020. OH snap, did I just commit to a marathon in 2020. I need to lose about 500 lbs first :-)
